Faraday's cage
by Huehuetecti
Summary: Post werewolf-prank//Dumbledore decides to reconcile two enemies by locking them in a room together for two months. What could possibly go wrong?// mentions of slash remus/sirius but nothing graphic. // all chapters are written and will be posted asap.
1. Chapter 1

Faraday's cage by Lothlorien

A/N: Hello everyone. This is my first fic in english and it hasn't been betaed, so I apologize for any mistakes that you find. And please read and review.

Summary: post werewolf-prank. Dumbledore decides to reconcile two sworn enemies by locking them in room together for two months. What could possibly go wrong?

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Even the comp I'm using to post this from is my brothers...

A/N 2.0: _'bla' - _Severus' thoughts

**'bla'** - Sirius' thoughts

Ch. 1

"This has got to stop," said Dumbledore in a tired voice. "Your behaviour is unacceptable and it will not be tolerated anymore!" He started pacing. »Nothing seems to work. You obviously don't care about house points and detention doesn't faze you at the least. In consideration to that an alternative punishment has been proposed. Isolation. You will be locked together in a room until you learn how to function normally with each other. Or at least learn to ignore each other."

"What!?!" came the collective cry of two black-haired students standing in the headmasters office.

"Professor you can't lock me in a room with him," continued one of the boys. "He's already tried to kill me once. Merlin only knows what he'll do if we're isolated with no one to control him!"

"Don't get your hopes up, Snivellius," said the other boy. "I wouldn't touch you with a 10 feet pole in someone else's hand."

"Well the issue here isn't what you wouldn't do with someone else's hand; it's what you would do with your own. And that is something I am not eager to discover."

"Silence!" Both boys obeyed the headmaster immediately. "This is exactly what I was talking about. Such behaviour cannot and will not be tolerated," said Dumbledore in an annoyed voice. "Here's how this is going to work: you will be placed in a room which has already been prepared. You will remain in this room until you start to tolerate one another. You will have no contact with the rest of the school population. Also, your wands will be removed," Dumbledore raised his hand when he noticed they were trying to interfere. "This is not a negotiation. You will learn to live with each other or you will be expelled. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," came the reply from both boys.

"Good," said the elder wizard. "Then follow me."

He led the boys through the dungeons until they came to a picture of Dante's map of hell. Severus, who was the only one of the two to ever read a book that wasn't mandatory, found it appropriate, where as Sirius, who didn't know what he was looking at, simply found it weird. Dumbledore ushered them in and closed the doors.

The room the entered was rather big. It had two four-poster beds, a table with 2 chairs, a couple of comfortable looking sofas in front of the fireplace and shelves that held, by Sirius' opinion too many and by Severus' too few, books. There were also a few board games and magazines. Dumbledore gave them the grand tour.

"The first door to the left leads to a bathroom and the second leads to a walk-in closet. All of your things have already been brought there. On your right is the summoning chamber. It will provide you with anything you want, as long as you ask politely. You don't want to hurt its feelings and not get what you asked for, do you?"

_'Yeah, because I care so deeply about the feelings of a summoning chamber,' _thought Severus.

"Are there any questions?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes," said Sirius. "The school year ends in a week. How do you hope to keep us here after that?" he asked hopefully.

"I have already gained the permission from your guardians to keep you here for the summer."

**'Of course. My mother dearest would allow anything if it means making me miserable. It's always helpful to know you have such loving parents'**, thought Sirius sarcastically.

"Anything else you'd like to ask?" continued the headmaster.

"No, sir," answered the boys.

"Well in that case, I'll see you when you start acting civilized," said Dumbledore abd left the room.

And all hell broke loose.

"This is all your fault!" hissed Severus accusingly.

Sirius glared at him. "Pray tell, how is it that this whole thing is my responsibility? I seem to recall rather clearly that you tried to hex me to oblivion not two weeks ago!"

"That wouldn't have happened if you haven't tried to kill me two months ago."

"That was just a prank!" exclaimed a highly annoyed Sirius.

"Just a prank?" asked an incredulous Severus. "Changing someone's hair blue is 'just a prank'. Telling someone to go through a tunnel with a fully transformed werewolf on the other side is murder!"

"Well I wouldn't have done that if you hadn't cast sectum semper on Peter."

Severus looked extremely shocked. "That wasn't me, you idiot! That was your beloved cousin Belatrix."

Sirius opened his mouth to retort, but ended up closing them in surprise. "That wasn't you?"

Snape just shook his head in amazement. "Great, so I almost died because of something your demented cousin did. I feel loads better now, knowing my death wouldn't have been in vain," he said viciously.

"Shut up, Snivelly."

Severus, knowing he'd won, decided to ignore the name and bowed mockingly. "Whatever you say, your royal highness," he said sarcastically and moved to the bed with centaurs engraved in the wood. "I'll take this one."

Sirius, too tired to argue, just moved to the other one with engraved wolves. It was barely 9 o'clock, but since he didn't feel like dealing with Snape anymore he just decided to call it a night and closed the hangings.

Severus also sat on his bed, but he was far from sleeping. He was glad he'd learned a bit of wandless magic as he cast the silencing charm on his bed. He pulled out a book of Nordic mythology and started reading. Muggle books always amused him. They were mostly wrong about magical creatures, but they got a few right – unicorns and vampires for example. Nordic folk tales were the most accurate. He thought it might have something to do with the proximity of the pole. Magic was stronger there. Aurora borealis is enough proof of that. How muggles could believe it was all just light breaking in the atmosphere was beyond him.

He spent a few hours reading when he heard a scream from the other boy. Apparently the silencing charm didn't work as well as it should have. _'Fucking wandless magic,_' thought Severus.

"Black!" he shouted from behind the hangings. When he got no reply he shouted louder. No reply. Either Sirius was a really sound sleeper, which seemed unlikely considering all the screaming he did, or the charm was partially successful and worked one way. Severus decided the second theory was right and tried to get some sleep.

Sirius was still screaming, but Severus, who'd been sharing a dorm with 5 other boys for 6 years now, was used to all sorts of sounds while he slept, so it shouldn't really present a problem for him.

But something was different about hearing Black scream. There weren't just screams, he heard mumbled words too.

"No, father stop… No, NO!"

He couldn't stand it anymore. He stood up and went to Sirius' bed.

"Black, wake up!" yelled Severus.

When that didn't work, he sighed and went to shake the other boy.

"Black!" he called as he shook him. "Wake up, it's just a dream."

After a few moments Sirius woke up. When he saw Severus standing over his hed, he immediately went to defence mode.

"What do you want, Snape?" he growled aggressively.

The Slytherin took a step back and said: "You were having a nightmare."

Sirius didn't know how to react. Was Snape actually being civilized?

"Right," he finally said after a few moments of silence. "Thanks," he added awkwardly.

Severus just nodded and moved back to his bed. Now that the room was silent, he quickly fell asleep.

Sirius, on the other hand, couldn't sleep anymore. There were too many thoughts swirling in his mind. He had to think about this situation. Indeed, it was more important then resting.

**'And you're afraid the nightmares will come back, if you sleep,'** reminded his mind.

He sighed and tried to decide on what to do. He obviously couldn't go flying. Playing chess required two people. He was not yet desperate enough to read. Basically, all he could do was to lie on his bed silently and think about the situation. Why, oh why wasn't Remus here? He was the thinker in their group. Sirius was too impulsive and hated analyzing things. When something happened that he didn't understand, he tried to just forget about it, or he made Remus explain it to him. But he couldn't forget what Snape had done. And Remus wasn't here with him. So it really was up to him.

**'Damn Dumbledore and his plans,'** thought Sirius. **'I bet he's in his office now, sitting in his comfy chair drinking tea laughing at us!'**

Now about this situation. Why did Snape wake him up? Was it really out of the goodness of his heart?

**'Yeah right, that wanker doesn't have a heart.'**

But why then? Why? Why? Why?

**'He probably just couldn't sleep cos of all the noise I was making.'**

Satisfied with that explanation, he stopped thinking about it. He took a few seconds to just listen to the room. It was completely silent. Total silence really is an amazing thing to hear. Well, maybe not hear.

Then it hit him. Complete silence… He couldn't hear anything but his own breathing. Snape's bed was just a few feet from his own, yet he couldn't hear him breathe. That wasn't normal. Due to his animagi form, Sirius had better hearing then other kids at Hogwarts. Except for Remus of course. So he should be able to hear Snape breathing. The Gryffindor got out of his bed and walked over to Snape's. he still couldn't hear anything.

**'Here goes nothing,'** thought Sirius and opened the hangings.

Severus was sound asleep. The sheet covered only the lower half of his body and a pale torso was revealed.

**'Is there something about Snivelly I don't know? Cos you don't get a six-pack like that reading books and making potions.'**

With the hangings opened he could hear Snape snore lightly. Sirius chuckled and closed the hangings. And the noise was gone. Odd…

He opened the hangings again. **'Snores.'**

And closed them.** 'No snores.'**

Opened**. 'Snores.'**

Closed. '**No snores.'**

**'Snores.'**

**'No snores.'**

The fabric wasn't thick enough to block all of the sound.

**'The bastard casted a silencing spell,'** realised Sirius. **'But how did he hear me hiving nightmares?'** Then another realization hit him. **'Snape can do wandless magic. Oh shit! This is definitely of the bad!'**

The Gryffindor was very close to having a panic attack. He was locked in a room with his worst enemy, who was incidentally also the only one who could use magic. Well his day was getting better by the minute.

For the sake of his mental health, Sirius decided to just go to bed. Maybe he could pretend it was a nightmare and he'll wake up in his bed in the Gryffindor tower.

**'Yeah, right.'**

******  
**

Breakfast was an increasingly awkward affair. Neither of the boys wanted to discuss what happened last night, but they couldn't simply ignore it. Basically it meant that they couldn't fight and since they weren't really interested in conversing with each other, there was silence. Finally Sirius couldn't take it anymore.

"I, um… I just wanted to say, um," he half stuttered and fell silent.

"Yes?" asked Severus. "Will you be finishing that thought? Or are coherent sentences too complicated for your brain cells (presuming you have some) this early in the morning?" finished Snape with mock concern.

I guess the truce is over.

"Look Snivelly, I was just trying to be polite. Is your slimy little brain too busy trying to stop the grease from penetrating it to understand the very basics of inter-human relationships?" said the annoyed youth.

Severus elegantly raised his left eyebrow. "Why Black, I never knew you were capable of using multi-syllable words. Your mother must be so proud of you."

That hit the nerve and Sirius charged immediately. He punched the Slytherin right in the nose and heard a lovely cracking sound before the blood came gushing out. Snape of course couldn't let him get away with that.

So half an hour later, they were sitting in opposite corners of the room sporting different injuries and breathing hard. If looks could kill…

Suddenly the summoning chamber opened and a letter flew in the room. It unfolded itself and Dumbledore's voice filled the room.

"Good morning, boys. I trust you slept well. I wrote this letter to inform you of some changes in your situation. The members of the staff have decided that it is not enough for you to merely ignore each other. You need to learn to live with one another. So the duration of this imprisonment has been changed. You will not be released once you learn to ignore each other, but rather at the end of summer break. This incidentally means you will be living together for 2 months."

The letter paused as there were several complaints herd from both students. When they finally grew silent (10 minutes later), it continued.

"It came to our attention that Mr. Snape is capable at using wandless magic."

The Slytherin gasped.

"Now in order for him not to have an unfair advantage we casted a spell on this room. The spell prevents you from using any kind of magic. Also, any spells you may have already casted will be lifted. Those are all the changes we made.

This will be our last correspondence. You will be left alone for the next 2 months. This also means you will get no medical assistance. You may summon bandages and such with the chamber, but potions will not be available to you. So you will have to heal the muggle way. I would advise you do nothing that would make necessary."

"Now he advises us," grumbled Severus.

"I do hope you will learn to function normally around one another. I'm sure that if you look beyond the image, you will discover more in each other then you ever thought possible," with that the letter refolded itself and burst into flames.

"Thank you, Yoda, for your words of wisdom," sighed Severus.

"What was that?" asked Sirius.

"Never mind," came the reply from the other boy as he struggled to stand up. He then half walked, half crawled to the chamber and asked for some bandages and ice. To Sirius' great surprise, he tossed half of them to him.

"Patch up," he said. "We don't want you bleeding all over the floor now, do we?"

The Gryffindor looked at him strangely and started to clumsily dress his wounds. Severus had no problems dressing his own injuries and he was now amusing himself by watching Sirius trying to figure out the basic principle of a sterile gauze. But as funny as it was, it got old quickly.

"Oh, just let me," he said with a bored voice.

Sirius looked at him with surprise clearly visible in his eyes. He handed the remaining bandages to Severus, who took care of his injuries surprisingly gently.

**'Why does he keep doing this? First he wakes me up when I'm having a nightmare and now he's dressing my wounds.'**

Sirius was seriously confused (no pun intended). When Snape finished and walked away, the young Black didn't know what to do.

"Thanks," he said hesitantly. Did he just thank Snape for the second time in one day? That was not normal.

"Don't worry about it," answered Severus and opened his book of Nordic legends.

Black, not knowing what to do, sat on the sofa and started drawing. Few people knew this about him, but he loved to draw and was actually quite good at it. Mostly he drew magical creatures such as elves, unicorns and centaurs.

Right now, he was working on a centaur that's been causing him troubles for a few weeks now. However he tried, he just couldn't get the legs right. It was frustrating really. Though most people would never guess thus about him, he was a perfectionist as far as his drawing was concerned. He was so immersed in it, that he didn't notice Snape eyeing him curiously.

_'Sirius "I am the most badass person ever" Black draws? Nobody will ever believe me.'_

Not that he had anyone to tell this too. He wasn't exactly the most popular guy in school. Partly because he was slightly asocial, but mostly cos the Marauders hated him. He still remembered the day their hatred started.

*Flashback*

Severus was sitting by the lake watching the students talk, laugh, run and generally have a good time. Since he didn't really have any friends, he spent a lot of time studying other people. From that he learned a lot about them that the others never noticed.

He saw the Marauders coming out of the school. Even though he was a Slytherin, they never really gave him any trouble in the 2 years he's been in Hogwarts.

Suddenly a pretty girl sat next to him.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" she asked. "I noticed to always sit alone."

She noticed? She's not supposed to notice him. No one is.

"I'm Lily Evans," said the redhead and offered him a hand.

"Severus Snape," answered the boy and shook her hand.

At once the Marauders were there. James had a huge crush on Lily, everyone knew that.

"Is the Slytherin bothering you, Lily-flower?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes. "No, he's not bothering me," she said and looked pointedly at him. "Unlike some people I know."

"Who's bothering you?" asked Potter. "Just tell me and I'll hex him to next week."

"I didn't know you were a masochist," drawled Severus. Lily giggled.

"What are you talking about, Snape?" asked James with a threatening voice.

"I'm sure you'll figure it our eventually," answered Snape and stood to leave. Just to infuriate Potter, he planted a kiss on Lily's hand. "I'll see you later, Lily."

While he was walking away, a curse hit him in the back.

*End flashback*

They were at war ever since. It just got worse and worse, until "the werewolf prank". And now they were here.

_'What would've happened, if I turned Lily down that day?'_ wondered Severus._ 'Would the Marauders leave me be, or would it just postpone the inevitable?'_

He decided that Black would've found some reason or another to torment him. It was just the way of the world.

_'Then why did I help him with his wounds?'_ he wondered._ 'I could have left him to his own incompetence. So why didn't I?'_

Because he couldn't let anyone suffer from wounds inflicted by him, that's why. Even if it was Sirius bloody Black.

"We should set some rules" said Sirius suddenly, making Severus jump.

"What?" he asked shocked.

"Rules," repeated Sirius. "If were stuck here for 2 months we can't fight anymore."

"Physically," corrected Snape. "We can still fight verbally."

Black sighed tiredly. "Has it ever occurred to you, that I might not want to fight?"

The Slytherin raised his eyebrow elegantly. "Why yes, if years of being hexed by you have thought me anything, it's that you're a true pacifist," he said sarcastically. "And has it ever occurred to you, that I might find your inability to come up with a good comeback amusing? That is, when you're not hexing me of course."

"Fine," defected Sirius. "We can fight, but not physically. Anything else?"

"We can't go through each other's stuff," added Severus. "We have to respect each other's privacy."

"Deal," said the Gryffindor and offered the other boy his hand.

Snape observed it suspiciously for a few seconds, but in the end he decided it was safe to shake it. They held each other's hands a bit tighter and perhaps a bit longer then was strictly necessary before letting go.

Sirius went back to his drawing while Severus went to have a long bath.

* * *

So... did you like it? Please let me know. The next chapter will be up as soon as i type it. The whole story is already writter so I'll post it asap.


	2. Chapter 2

Faraday's cage by Lothlorien

A/N: Here's chapter number 2. Hope you like it. It's a bit shorter, but don't worry about it, cos the next (and last one) is really long. Please leave a review.

A/N 2.0: And remember: **'Sirius' thoughts'**

'_Severus' thoughts'_

Ch. 2

For the next few days they just ignored each other. It was hard on both of them. They both had nightmares and often screamed in their sleep, which made it difficult for either of them too get much sleep. Still, they ignored it.

It was harder for Sirius. He was a more social being and he needed human contact. Desperately. Especially at night when he was having nightmares. Of course he never shared his nightmares with his roommates in Gryffindor and had a silencing spell casted on his bed, but it was easier to wake up and know that you could wake someone up and share your fears with them, even if you knew you never will. Also, it was terrible to hear someone scream in their sleep and know you can't help them. Even if this was Snape, Sirius couldn't stand someone waking up from a nightmare alone, cos he knew all too well what it feels like. But he had to ignore it.

It was easier for Severus to ignore Black. He was used to being alone all the time. But hearing Black scream at night and knowing the other boy could hear him too, was getting harder and harder.

_'Something has to change,'_ thought Severus_. 'And it has to change soon.'_

But nothing happened for the next few days. They kept ignoring each other. They ate alone, never talked to one another, they wouldn't even look at each other. There was a tense silence between them. They wanted to break it and at the same time did everything they could to stay silent. Every brush of Sirius' pencil, every movement of Severus' book echoed through the room. The silence was slowly killing them.

***

"No!" screamed Severus in his sleep.

Sirius woke up. This was the third night in a row he was awoken by that sound. How Snape managed to sleep through this was a mystery for him. But he couldn't stand it anymore.

On impulse he got out of his bed and opened the hangings on the other bed. Severus was covered in sweat and even paler then usually. The blanket was kicked of the bed and he was shivering slightly from the cold.

Sirius picked up the blanket and covered the shivering boy. He looked so vulnerable and the Gryffindor had the sudden urge to protect him. Slowly, he got in the bed behind the Slytherin and wrapped his hands around the naked chest. Severus tensed momentarily, but soon started to relax. His breathing became regular and the shivers subsided.

When he noticed this, Sirius tried to get out of bed. But when he went to remove his hands, he felt Snape snuggle closer to him. Since this was the first human contact Black's had in almost two weeks and he wasn't too eager to break it, he relaxed and went to sleep. For the first time in years, he didn't have a nightmare.

Severus awoke feeling warm and relaxed. He didn't have a nightmare tonight. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept through the night. It was a nice feeling. He wanted to go back to sleep so as not to lose this sense of security.

He felt two arms tightening their grip around him. In his half-asleep state he cuddled closer, when a realization hit him.

'_What's Black doing in my bed?'_

He knew he should be mad, maybe start panicking, but he just felt so good. It felt fantastic to have somebody hold him close. He decided to just ignore the fact that this was Black and try to get more sleep.

Suddenly he felt Sirius shift. He tried to keep his breathing slow, so the Gryffindor wouldn't know he was awake.

Sirius woke up feeling relaxed and well rested. He smiled as he felt Snape cuddling closer to him and tightened his grip. It was amazing what a little human contact could do for his mental health. Or maybe he felt good cos he'd finally had a good nights sleep. It was probably a combination of both.

Subconsciously he started drawing small circles on Severus' skin with his nails. He thought about going back to sleep, but figured he might as well get up. He slowly removed his hands and tried to get out of bed without waking Snape. Then he went to take a shower.

When Sirius left the room, Severus allowed himself to move. He didn't know how he should act around Black now. Should he keep ignoring him or try to be nice to him? In the end he decided that considering the fact that Sirius obviously didn't want him to know he'd slept in his bed, he should just ignore it. _'It's not like it's going to happen again.'_

Calmed by that thought he went back to sleep.

**

Even though they were both in a much better mood then usually, the day was weird for both of them. They didn't know how to act around each other. They didn't even know, if they should admit to the fact they'd shared a bed. So they ignored each other, but the there was a more comfortable silence between them.

'**Maybe this break won't be a complete disaster,' **thought Sirius.

After dinner – which they ate together – Severus went back to reading and Sirius tried to finish the centaur. That damn leg was still causing him some difficulties. After a while he gave up and started to draw something else. He tried to remember a picture he saw once in muggle London. He let his hand move automatically and slowly a big rose appeared. He worked on it for hours, but he still wasn't satisfied. Finally he closed the sketchbook with a frustrated sigh. Severus had already gone to bed and the room was completely silent.

The Gryffindor stood watching Severus' bed for a while. He wanted to sleep there again. It felt good to not have a nightmare.

'**Don't be ridiculous!' **he thought. **'What are you 6? You should be able to sleep in your own bed.'**

With a sigh he went to lie on the wolf-engraved bed.

**

When he woke up, he felt two hands holding him.

'**When did Snivelly get here?' **Sirius was amazed. **'I guess he knew I was in his bed.'**

This was an unexpected turn of events. How do they act now? Can they still ignore it? Sirius didn't even know if he still wanted to ignore it. He needed someone to talk to. And Severus seemed to be the best candidate – seeing as how he was the only one.

'**I'll talk to him today,' **decided Sirius.

**

But he didn't. Not that day, not the next one, not even that week. They still shared a bed. They came to a silent (very, very silent) agreement, that the one that goes to bed last will go to the others bed. Usually Sirius went to bed first, so the bed with the centaurs was more often then not empty.

During the day they continued to ignore each other, but they ate their meals together and when Sirius drew and Severus read, they sat on the same sofa. It was pleasant in a way, but they both wanted more.

About a week and a half after their first night together (not like that, you perverts :P) Severus broke the silence.

"Is that Black rose?" he asked Sirius as they sat on the sofa.

The Gryffindor looked at him with confusion clearly written in his eyes.

"I'm not sure what you mean," he answered. "I saw the picture in muggle London once. I think it was on a CD or something."

Severus nodded. "I thought so. That's Black rose. It's an album from some muggle rock band."

"Really? But how do you know that?" asked Black. "I thought you're not into muggle stuff."

The Slytherin just shrugged. "My father's a muggle."

"Oh."

They were silent for a while, but then Sirius broke the silence.

"What are you reading?"

"Silmarillion," answered Severus.

"Never heard of it."

Snape resisted the urge to roll his eyes. _'Well no shit, Sherlock. Do you even know how to read?'_ But he didn't say that our loud. It took a couple of days for him to gather up the courage to start talking and he didn't want to ruin it so soon. So he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Is it interesting?" asked Sirius.

"Yeah, I like it," said Severus. "But it's difficult to read, because there are a lot of names and dates in it."

"You read history books in your free time?" asked the Gryffindor with a what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you look.

"No," answered the Slytherin. "Ok, maybe in a way. Silmarillion is basically the history of Middle earth. It's a place some muggle made up."

Sirius looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "So you don't read history books, but you do read history books of fictional places? Do I even want to know why?" he asked jokingly.

Snape half smiled and sent the other boy a glare. "Oh, do shut up."

Sirius just smiled and started drawing again.

They ate dinner together and went back to the sofa. They spent the rest of the evening talking about trivial things.

Slowly and uneasy trust was building between them. They started telling little details of their lives to each other. But nothing big. They both wanted to talk about their nightmares, but they couldn't.

**

"No! Please stop, please!"

'_Sirius is having another nightmare,' _thought Severus as he read his books. He often had them before Snape went to bed. Severus suspected he'd also have nightmares if it weren't for Black. That's why he always waited for him to go to bed first.

Sirius was still mumbling incoherent words and kept shifting around in bed.

'_Enough is enough,' _thought Severus. _'We have to talk about this.'_

He stood from the sofa and went to wake the sleeping boy. When he came to the bed, he saw that Sirius was crying.

'_This must be worse then I thought. He doesn't usually cry.'_

"Sirius," said the Slytherin gently. "Sirius, wake up."

It took him longer then normal to wake the other boy. When Sirius finally woke up, he tried to hide his tears, but Severus would have none of it. He simply hugged his former enemy and whispered soothing words in his ear. When Black finally stopped crying, Severus looked him in the eyes.

"What did the do to you?" he asked quietly.

Sirius looked away. "I can't tell you everything. Not yet."

Severus nodded. "Just tell me about this dream."

At first the Gryffindor looked doubtful, but then he took a deep breath and started talking.

"It was the last day before the end of summer break. I couldn't wait to go back to school. That was the worst summer I'd ever had. It was after my first year and my parents were yet to accept the fact that I was indeed a Gryffindor. They were always nice to me before I went to school. I just wasn't used to them being this violent.

"Oh, they never hit me," he added when he saw the look in Severus' eyes. "They were too proud of their pure blooded ancestry to hit me the muggle way. Until that day it was only psychological. They told what a failure I was every single day. Eventually it didn't affect me anymore. When my father noticed that, he decided it was time to teach me a lesson. The day before I went back to school, he came to my room. At first it was just the usual insults. But them he took out his wand. That was when I realized I no longer had parents. He casted so many spells on me, I can barely remember anything. When he was done he simply told me to go to bed.

He didn't heal me. He just put glamour on me before I left the house."

Sirius grew silent. He couldn't talk anymore. Severus simply held him as he cried and slowly they drifted into sleep.

**

Severus was awoken by Sirius' hand drawing circles on his chest. He opened his eyes and smirked to the Gryffindor.

"Good morning."

Sirius snapped out of his thoughts and blushed slightly. Usually they would get out of bed the moment they woke up. He wasn't sure how to reach, so he just decided to ignore the fact that he was, in a way, caught.

"Good morning," he said quietly. "I wanted to thank you. For yesterday."

Severus nodded. "It's ok."

For a while they just lay there in silence. Suddenly Sirius started speaking.

"Why do you have nightmares?" he asked. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to," added Black when he felt the Slytherin flinch.

Snape shook his head. "I'm sorry, Black. I can't tell you."

Sirius nodded and went to the bathroom. When he came out Severus was getting breakfast from the summoning chamber.

They ate in a tense silence, the weight of Sirius' confession keeping them quiet.

'_Great,'_ thought Severus. _We just started talking a week ago. Well it really was too optimistic to think our friendship would last.' _He tensed momentarily. Friendship? Was this what this was? How was it possible that they could be friends after years of animosity? _'It isn't,' _decided Snape. It was something else. _'A truce. Companionship even. But not friendship.'_

The silence was heavy through the whole day. Severus knew it was partly his fault, but he couldn't trust Sirius with his past and he wasn't about to apologize for that.

Suddenly he had an idea. He went to the summoning chamber and talked to it silently. Sirius only looked at him oddly when he took out a radio and what looked like a bunch of small flat boxes. Severus took a small shiny disk and inserted it in the radio.

The sound of guitars filled the room. Sirius looked at Snape, but didn't say anything and went back to drawing the rose. He was almost done, when he heard the lyrics.

_***Tell me the legends of long ago,**_

_**When the kings and queens would dance in the realms of the Black rose…***_

The Gryffindor raised an eyebrow and looked at Severus.

"Black rose, huh?" he asked casually.

"It's a great song, don't you think?" answered Severus in the same tone.

Sirius just smiled and continued with his drawing. The silence was still there, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

A/N: So… like it? Hate it? I know this one's a bit angsty, but don't worry about it. The last one is mostly humor. Please review.

Oh and I don't own Silmarillion, Black rose or HP. Silmarillion belongs to Tolkien, Black rose is a song by Thin Lizzy and we all know who owns HP… Lucky woman…


	3. Chapter 3

Faraday's cage by Huehuetecti

A/N: Here's the third and final chapter. I'd like to thank you for reading and I hope you liked it. Please leave a review.

As usual: **'Sirius' thoughts'**

'_Severus' thoughts'_

Ch. 3

"What day is it?" asked Sirius about a month into their stay.

"Thursday," answered Severus.

"I meant the date," replied the Gryffindor. "How can you know which day it is?" he added as an afterthought. "I lost track of the days weeks ago."

"It's the 27th June. And I ask the chamber every day."

"Why?"

"Because I feel…"

"Never mind," interrupted Sirius and started grinning like a mad man. "It's the 27th June."

"What's it to you?" asked Severus with well concealed curiosity.

"I don't have to go back," whispered Black. He started laughing and hugged the shocked Slytherin. "I don't have to go back!" he repeated louder. "Ever! I'm free of those wretched people and that cursed house!"

Severus realized what was happening and slowly smiled.

"Happy birthday, Black."

"We have to celebrate this," announced Sirius. "D'you think the chamber would give me alcohol if I asked it?"

"Doubt it," said Snape. "But if it does, get some vodka while you're at it."

Much to their surprise, the chamber did give them alcohol. Lots of it.

"Wicked," said the grinning Gryffindor and walked to the sofa. "Well, we better get comfortable. It's gonna be a long night."

Severus put on some rock music and went to sit next to Sirius.

"Cheers," he said and took a swig of whiskey.

After a few hours, 3 beers, some whiskey and a bottle of vodka, Snape found himself lying on the floor next to Black, writing what just might be the worst attempt at poetry in the history of men.

"What rhymes with lemon drop?"

Sirius was thoughtful for a few moments. "Drop, pop, mop, flop, top,… Why?"

"I'm writing a song about Dumbledore. I'm stuck with 'he always has a lemon drop'," explained the frustrated Slytherin.

"Slughorn always lets him top," said Sirius proudly and started giggling.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Black, are you giggling?"

"No, of course not," denied the Gryffindor. "I'm far too manly to giggle. I am not a gigglish person."

"Gigglish is not a word," pointed out Severus. "And I'm not even gonna comment on that first part."

Sirius just shrugged and took another beer.

"Slughorn always lets him top," smiled Snape. "You have a sick and twisted sense of humour."

"Are you saying Dumbledore's not gay? I mean, come on, just look at him!"

"True that. But he is definitely a bottom."

"How would you know?" came a shocked reply from Sirius.

"Oh please, I recognize a bottom when I see one."

"Is that so?" There was challenge in that voice. "Then do tell, oh all-knowing one, which would I be?"

"You're a bottom," said Severus confidently.

"WHAT?!?"

"Aren't you?"

"Of course not!"

"Are you claiming your wolf-boy is a sub?" asked the smirking Slytherin.

Sirius was too shocked to answer. For a few moments at least.

"Ok, we are ending this discussion now."

"Fine."

They just drank silently for 15 minutes, when Sirius spoke again.

"I'm bored."

"Good for you."

"Not really."

"True."

Another 10 minutes passed.

"Still bored."

"Congratulations."

10 minutes later.

"Bored!"

Severus just sighed.

Yet another 10 minutes later.

"Ok fine, I'm a bottom."

"That's nice."

5 minutes later.

"Will you stop ignoring me!?"

'_Victory is mine!'_

"Certainly," said Severus graciously. "What would you like to do?"

"Shag Remus, but that's out of the question," answered Sirius. Then his head shot up. "I didn't just say that, did I?"

"Oh yes." Severus was wearing an evil, sadistic grin. "Yes you did."

"What are the odds of you ignoring that statement?"

"Not good."

"Thought so."

But Severus did mercifully let it drop for the moment and they talked about trivial things and theorized about the sexual lives of the professors. Several hours and a bottle of fire-whiskey later, Sirius decided he's had enough.

"I'm going to bed," he said and tried to get up, but fell right back on the floor, laughing. "Come on Snape, help me up."

"Wouldn't dream of it," answered Severus. "I'm having way too much fun right now. Do try to get up again. I'm sure you can do it."

Sirius' next attempt proved him wrong and they both laughed as he landed on the floor once more. Eventually Snape decided to be merciful and tried to help the other boy. Together they tumbled to the centaur-engraved bed and fell on it, still laughing.

"Oi, Black get of me, will you."

"Stop whining, you know you like it," leered Sirius.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" shot back Severus. "My, my, what would wolf-boy say?"

"Oh shut up," said Black and rolled to lie beside Snape rather than on top of him. "Just go to sleep," he murmured and buried his face in the side of the Slytherins neck.

Severus wrapped his hands around the smaller boy. Soon they were both asleep.

The next morning (ok, early afternoon) found Sirius in his own personal hell.

"Make it stop," he groaned as he continued 'praying to the porcelain god'. "I promise I won't drink anymore!"

"You won't drink any less either," commented the amused Severus leaning on the door frame. _'Gryffindors can't hold their booze,' _he thought as he watched Sirius' next 'prayer'.

"True that," answered Sirius as he got up and washed his face. He slowly walked to the sofa and lied down. "Why don't you have a hangover? It's not fair!"

"Hey, it's not my fault you can't hold your booze," said Severus defensively. "One would think you'd be used to consuming improbably quantities of alcohol, what with all the parties you have in your tower."

'**Smug, eloquent bastard!'**

"Yes well, in the tower we have access to a wonderful invention called the hangover potion."

Snape produced a small vial from his robes. "You mean this little thing?" he asked with a smug smirk.

"You bastard!" exclaimed Sirius and winced at the loudness of his own voice. "Did you have that potion on you all this time?"

"Why yes."

"Then why didn't you give it to me?" asked Black slowly.

"You didn't ask," answered Snape innocently. "How was I to know you wanted some?"

"You sick, sadistic bastard!"

"Slytherin," said Severus by ways of explanation.

"Can I have some of that potion now?"

"But of course," came the generous reply. "You needed but to ask."

Sirius drank the potion and grimaced. "Someone needs to make a better tasting version of this potion."

"You're just never satisfied are you?"

"Well I am, when Remus – "

"No, no, no, no, no! Just stop that! I do not need a mental image of you and the wolf."

" – gives me chocolate," Black finished the sentence smugly. "What did you think I was going to say?"

Snape rolled his eyes. "Gives you chocolate, eh? Is that what they're calling it these days?"

Sirius' reply was cut by the sound of a howler flying from the chamber. Dumbledore's voice filled the room.

"Good afternoon boys. I trust this letter finds you in good health. As it has been a month since our last correspondence, I've decided to send you a letter to let you know the world has not forgotten you."

"I'm touched," murmured Severus. Sirius suppressed the urge to laugh.

"Also I would like to wish young mister Black a most happy birthday. As a present of sorts, you have been allowed to summon anything you wanted. But be assured, that all of your other attempts to summon any substances that are against the school rules, will be unsuccessful."

"Thank Merlin I went too far when I was ordering the alcohol," whispered Sirius as he looked at the 2 remaining 6-packs, 3 bottles of vodka, a half empty bottle of fire-whiskey and a bottle of tequila lying by the sofa. Severus shook his head, but he was laughing none the less.

"The same applies to the summoning of any magical remedies for the after-affects of the aforementioned substances."

"Do you have any potion left?" asked the suddenly concerned Gryffindor. Snape smirked and pulled out 4 remaining vials from his robes.

"A Slytherin is always prepared for the worst."

"As you should be with Sluggy-dear as your head of house," replied Sirius.

"True that."

"With all that said, I'd like to remind you that you have 5 weeks to go. In the course of the next few days, you will receive all of your new school books so that you may start preparing yourself for a new school year and your NEWTs."

Both boys snorted and shook their heads.

"Now I bid you farewell and hope the rest of your stay here will be enjoyable."

The letter folded itself and burst into flames.

"You may start preparing yourself for a new school year," said Severus in a much exaggerated version of Dumbledore's voice. "Just what I want to do," he continued sarcastically.

"Snape, I'm appalled!" exclaimed Sirius in a mock dramatic voice. "You mean to tell me, you do not spend your entire summer break learning ne exciting facts about astronomy and runes? How dare you even show your face in these hallowed grounds of learning?"

"I manage," dry panned Snape.

Black smiled. "That you do."

"Stop… no please, don't," mumbled Severus in his sleep. It was one of the few times when he went to bed first. He usually mumbled in his sleep, but it was normally not this frantic. Sirius was concerned enough to go wake him up.

"Severus, wake up." He shook him gently, but it didn't work, so he lay next to him and wrapped his arms around the Slytherin. "Come on Severus, wake up," he whispered in his ears.

Slowly the black-haired boy started to wake up. He looked around for a while and then turned in Sirius' arms and hugged him closely.

"Wanna tell me about it?" asked the Gryffindor gently.

"I… I'm not sure I can," admitted Severus.

Black nodded with understanding, but Snape could feel him tense up slightly.

'_He told me about his family… I should probably tell him about mine.'_

He took a deep breath and started talking.

"My mother is from some old, almost extinct blood line. Her parents were killed in a magical accident and she decided to stop being a witch."

Sirius looked shocked.

"I know it's stupid. You don't just stop being magical. But she tried. She lived like a muggle for a few years before meeting my father. He was a business man and seemed like a safe choice, so she married him and they had me. After that she decided she couldn't lie to him anymore and she told him about magic and what-not. That's when he started drinking and became violent. Mom started drinking after a year or so. He left when I was 7 and after that she started dating men that would treat her like he did. Most of them left me alone, some were violent. All of them would beat her when they were drunk. The worst one was Jim, some red-neck from Fuckville, USA. He beat me regularly and one night when he was drunk yet again, he came to my room and raped me.

Mom didn't do anything when I told her. She didn't even believe me. I was terrified of him and started locking my door and for a while I was left alone. But he came again one day and that's when my magic exploded. I sent him to the hospital with severe burns and some broken bones. That was a week before 1st year. Mom didn't do anything. She went to the hospital with him and left me alone… Gave me some money and I had to find my own way to Diagon alley and the Hogwarts express.

When I came home for the summer, she'd had a new boyfriend. She started ignoring me. She gave me money and that was about it. Most of her boyfriends ignored me as well. Some would beat me occasionally, but it was never really bad. So I guess it was better then before. I could live a semi-normal life. Still have nightmares though…"

"Don't we all, mate," said Sirius soothingly. He was obviously shocked. **'I can't believe I made all those comments about his family… No wonder he hated me.'**

They lay in silence for a long time before Severus got up.

"I have to take a shower."

Sirius nodded and got up as well. He went back to drawing the centaur. That damned foot was still making him frustrated. That and the rose.

"You've been drawing that centaur for as long as we've been here," said Severus. Sirius did his best not to jump in surprise. He didn't even hear the other boy approaching.

"It's not finished," he said simply.

Snape raised and eyebrow. "It looks finished to me," he commented.

Black shrugged and changed the subject. "You ok now?"

"I think so," replied Severus. "You?"

"Yeah."

"What time is it?"

"Midnight."

"Oh…"

"Do you know the date?"

"6 days to go."

Sirius' head shot up. "You're kidding. We've been here for 2 months?"

A nod.

"Wow."

"Yeah."

They sat silently for an hour or so, Sirius drawing, Severus reading, and then they went to bed.

The next few days passed too fast and much too slow at the same time. This room became their sanctuary. They could be themselves here, because they were so alike, there was no need to hide anything from each other. It was liberating.

"Last day," said Sirius quietly. The other boy just nodded. "We still have a bottle of tequila… I'm sure the chamber would give us lemons and salt."

"I have 2 more vials of the potion," confirmed Severus. "But get cinnamon and oranges, it tastes better."

Sirius nodded and went to the chamber. Severus emptied the centre of the room and the table. Then he prepared 2 shots as Sirius put the fruit on the table.

"I hope you hold tequila better then you hold vodka," teased Severus.

"Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe. If you think you're up for it."

"You're on," grinned Sirius and poured 6 more shots. "Are we going for speed or quantity?"

"Quantity."

The Gryffindor nodded his consent and licked his hand. "Gimme the cinnamon."

He took the first shot and looked at Severus challengingly. "Your turn."

Snape smirked and took a shot.

When they drank the first few shots (each), Severus poured another 8 glasses.

"Challenge," said Sirius. Snape looked at him and nodded. "No cinnamon."

"Ok."

Half and hour and 4 shots later, Sirius was starting to think this was a really bad idea. He was never a big tequila fan, but he couldn't just ignore a challenge.

"Challenge," said Severus as he poured more shots.

"Ok."

"No oranges."

Sirius nodded and took a shot. He grimaced, but managed to swallow.

'**I am never drinking tequila again.'**

Severus drank his shot, but he couldn't hold it down, so he ran to the bathroom.

'_How humiliating.'_

"And here I thought Gryffindors couldn't hold their booze," teased Sirius.

Snape tried to reply, but his body was too budy rejecting tequila. Sirius took this as a sign they should stop. He got the potion from Severus' robes and drank his vial. When the Slytherin was done with his 'prayers', he drank the potion as well and they went to lie on the sofa.

"That was a bad idea," said Severus.

"Agreed," replied the smaller boy.

"Last day…"

"Yeah. How weird."

"I know."

"We've been here for 2 months and we didn't kill each other."

"I guess there's no point in putting on a show, when there's no one here to see it."

'**Is that what we've been doing?' **thought Sirius. **'So what happens when we leave?'**

"So do we put on a show when we leave?" he asked slowly.

"Do you want to?"

"No, not really."

"Me neither. So I guess we don't."

Sirius nodded. **'Like it's that simple.' **He thought about it for a few minutes. **'Maybe it is.'**

"You know, I still haven't apologized," he said silently.

"For what?" asked Severus.

"You know…," he trailed of. "That whole werewolf trying to kill you thingy."

Snape didn't know how to react. He knew he couldn't forgive him, but holding a grudge for the rest of his natural life wasn't all that appealing either.

"It's… ok," he said slowly.

Sirius was stunned. This was not what he expected. There was a tense silence for a few minutes then Severus spoke.

"When d'you reckon they're gonna let us out?"

Sirius shrugged. "Dumbledore's letter said around noon."

"We should probably go to bed."

"Guess so."

But they remained sitting there for another hour or so, before Sirius finally stood up and went to the beds. He looked at the indecisively. Then he went to lie on the centaur-engraved one. Severus soon joined him and they fell asleep cuddled together.

"Will you finish packing already? We need to get out in 5 minutes," said Severus.

"I'm done," answered Sirius and walked to the door. Severus joined him and for a minute or so they just watched the room silently.

"I guess this is it," said Sirius.

"You have a wonderful grasp of the obvious," dry panned Severus. The Gryffindor just smiled.

"So I'll see you at dinner."

Suddenly Severus got a strange twinkle in his eyes. He pressed Sirius against the wall and kissed him fiercely. After a minute he broke the kiss and smirked wickedly.

"Definitely a sub."

He winked at the shocked Gryffindor and walked away gracefully.

*5 minutes later*

"Sirius, are you ok? You look a little pale," said James.

The young Black shook his head. "Yeah I'm fine."

"You look surprisingly alive for someone who's just spent 2 months with Snivelly," commented his friend.

"Do I?" asked Sirius innocently.

"You do," confirmed James. "What did you do for 2 months?"

"Oh you know the usual. We laughed a little, cried a little, got royally pissed together, went to bed and cuddled every morning," said Sirius evenly. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

Potter started laughing. "You have a sick and twisted sense of humour."

"You have no idea," smirked Sirius.

'**He always has a lemon ****drop; Slughorn always lets him top…'**

'**And Remus thought I couldn't do poetry.'**

In his office, Dumbledore was twinkling like mad.

"See Fawkes, I told you it would work."

The phoenix squeaked and drank a little water. The headmaster took another lemon drop.

"You know, I've always wanted to write and ode to sweets. What rhymes with lemon drop?"

A/N 2.0: ok so… did you like it? It's the last chapter. I'm not doing a sequel, but anyone who would like to do it, just let me know. Oh and I'd love to see someone write the poem that Severus was writing. You just have to put in those two verses: **'He always has a lemon drop; Slughorn always lets him top.' **

Please review and thank you for reading.


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